Tuberculosis 


KEEP  WELL  SERIES  No.  3 


TREASURY  DB^ATMENT 
UNITED  STATES  PUBLIC  HEALTH  SERVICE 


GOVERNMENT  PRINTINQ  OFFICE 


This  pamphlet  was  prepared  es- 
pecially for  the  information  of  sol- 
diers, sailors,  marines,  and  nurses 
discharged  from  military  duty,  and 
is  designed  to  help  those  who  are 
ill  regain  health  and  strength  and 
to  stimulate  the  interest  in  public- 
health  matters,  awakened  during 
their  service  with  the  military 
forces. 


How  to  Avoid  Tuberculosis 

^TUBERCULOSIS  is  caused  by  a  living 
•*  germ  in  the  lungs.  The  body  of  a 
healthy  person  will  resist  its  growth  and 
may  kill  the  germs,  but  in  a  weak  body 
and  without  proper  care  the  germs  multi- 
ply until  the  lungs  are  consumed  and  the 
person  dies. 

These  germs  are  found  in  the  sputum 
(spit)  of  a  consumptive — in  small  numbers 
in  the  very  early  stages  of  the  disease,  in 
larger  numbers  as  the  disease  progresses, 
and  in  countless  millions  in  the  late  stages. 

Among  the  earlier  symptoms  which  one 
can  observe,  and  which  should  lead  one  at 
once  to  consult  a  physician,  are:  Slight 
cough,  lasting  a  month  or  longer;  loss  of 
weight;  slight  fever  in  the  afternoon;  bleed- 
ing from  the  lungs. 

Many  persons  who  have  these  early 
symptoms  of  tuberculosis  lose  valuable 
time,  and  often  their  only  chance  of  recov- 
ery, by  relying  on  the  promises  of  patent- 
medicine  fakers  and  medical  quacks. 
Don't  take  patent  medicines  and  don't  go 
to  quack  doctors  who  advertise  that  they 
cure  tuberculosis  by  some  method  known 
only  to  themselves. 

13052G°— 19  3 


WHAT  TO  DO. 

If  you  think  you  have  consumption,  go  at 
once  to  a  private  physician  or  to  a  tubercu- 
losis clinic  or  dispensary. 

Make  sure  that  your  lungs  are  carefully 
examined.  Remember  that  this  can  not  be 
done  unless  the  chest  has  been  entirely  un- 
covered. Therefore  have  no  confidence  in 
a  doctor  who  examines  your  lungs  through 
your  clothing,  or,  worse  still,  prescribes  for 
your  cough  without  even  examining  your 
lungs. 

If  there  is  any  suspicion  of  tuberculosis, 
your  sputum  should  be  examined  micro- 
scopically. This  is  usually  done  free  of 
charge  by  the  State  Board  of  Health. 
Your  local  health  officer  will  help  you  to 
get  the  examination  made. 


SOME  FACTS. 

Every  three  minutes  some  one  in  the 
United  States  dies  from  consumption. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons 
die  from  it  in  the  United  States  each  year. 

One  person  of  every  ten  who  die  in  the 
United  States  dies  of  consumption. 


THINGS  TO  REMEMBER. 

1.  Fresh  air  is  as  necessary  to  health  as 
pure  and  nourishing  food. 

2.  People  should  not  sleep  in  overcrowded 
rooms,  nor  with  closed  windows. 

3.  Homes   and  workshops  must  be  clean 
and    thoroughly    ventilated.     Dirt    and 
impure  air  are  the  allies  of  tuberculosis. 

4.  Persons  with  colds  or  coughs  of  long 
standing  or  persons  who  are  losing  in 
weight  or  strength  should  consult  a  doc- 
tor or  go  to  a  dispensaiy  or  clinic.     It  is 
dangerous  to  wait. 

5.  Careless   spitting   spreads   the   disease. 
Sick  persons  should  burn  their  spit. 

6.  Though  110  one  should  ever  sleep  with 
a  consumptive,  a  careful  consumptive  is 
not  dangerous  to  those  with  whom  he 
lives  and  works. 

7.  The  large  majority  of  people  probably 
have  had  tuberculosis  in  their  systems, 
but  they  do  not  become  sick  with  it  be- 
cause they  take  good  care  of  their  gen- 
eral health  and  strength. 

8.  Always  cover  your  mouth  and  nose  with 
a    handkerchief    when    you    cough    or 
sneeze  and  insist  on  others  doing  the 
same. 


LEARN  TO  LOVE  FRESH  AIR. 

When  you  come  in  from  outdoors  and 
find  the  air  in  your  rooms  stale  and  stuffy 
and  foul  smelling,  open  the  windows  wide 
and  let  in  plenty  of  fresh  air  from  outside. 
Open  the  door,  too,  so  that  the  fresh  air 
can  freely  enter. 

Become  a  fresh-air  crank — even  at  the 
risk  of  being  disliked.  Better  a  live  fresh- 
air  crank  than  an  almost  lifeless  hothouse 
invalid. 

Do  all  you  can  to  avoid  crowds  in  closed 
or  poorly  ventilated  rooms.  Not  only  does 
the  bad  air  lower  your  resistance,  but  you 
are  in  danger  of  catching  disease  from 
others. 

Don't  ride  in  a  crowded  street  car  when 
you  are  going  only  a  short  distance.  Walk ! 

Walk  a  mile  in  the  open  air  twice  a  day. 
It  will  add  ten  years  to  your  life;  if  you 
don't  believe  it,  try  it  and  see. 

Keep  the  windows  of  your  bedroom  wide 
open,  day  and  night,  even  in  winter.  You 
can't  overdose  yourself  with  fresh  air,  and 
disease  germs  can't  endure  it. 

For  further  information  on  tuberculosis,  see  your  local  health  officer, 
or  write  to  your  State  Board  of  Health,  or  to  the  United  States  Public 
Health  Service,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Other  Publications  on  Tuberculosis 

UCSOUTHERMREGIpNAUIBRARY FACILITY 


TUBERCULOSIS:  ITS  PREDISPOSING 

CAUSES. — No.  3.  Supplement  to  Public 
Health  Reports. 

TUBERCULOSIS:  ITS  NATURE  AND 
PREVENTION.— No.  36.  Public  Health 
Bulletin. 

CLIMATE  AND  TUBERCULOSIS.— No. 
387.  Reprint  from  Public  Health  Reports. 


For  copies  of  the  above 

Address   UNITED    STATES   PUBLIC   HEALTH    SERVICE 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


